'The sacrifice acceptable to
God
is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God,
you will not
despise.' Psalm 51.17
'The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the
crushed in
spirit.' Psalm 34.18
'He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.'
Psalm 147.3
One of the great promises of the Bible is
that God
heals brokenness. Wherever we look in life, we will find
brokenness.
But we will also find the power of healing at work. God's
power heals
what is broken not just to restore it to what it was, but
to make it
even greater. That's what the Cross and Resurrection of
Jesus point us
to: new life, wholeness, and ultimately the final
perfection of eternal
life with God himself--heaven.
The season of Lent lays out this path for the follower of
Christ
Jesus. The path from brokenness to healing. From death
to life. From
loss to fullness. We invite you to take this path as Lent
begins this
week, on Ash Wednesday, March 9. You will be blessed as
we journey
together. My preaching theme for our Midweek Lenten
Vespers each
Wednesday will be "From Brokenness to Healing". God loves
you, and God
wants to heal your brokenness.
ASH
WEDNESDAY
WORSHIP: We hope
you will
make time on this significant holy day to worship with
us. There are
two opportunities to do so: 12 noon and 7pm. These
services will be
identical, each one offering Imposition of Ashes for
those who desire,
and also Holy Communion.
MIDWEEK LENTEN VESPERS AND SOUP
SUPPERS:
Beginning Wednesday, March 16,
we
invite you to join us for a 6pm Soup
and Bread Supper, followed at 7pm by Lenten
Vespers using
the Holden
Evening Prayer service. We will need your help with the
soup suppers,
so please offer that help on the sign-up sheet posted on the
main
bulletin
board.
MEMORIAL
TREE
PLANTING FOR MICHAEL ANDERSON: The Anderson
family
invites you to join them at their home for a tree planting
ceremony in
honor of Michael, their son. The dedication and planting
will take
place at 2pm on Sunday, March 13, at the Anderson home.
Weather
permitting, a potluck will be held following the
dedication. We hope
you will support the family with your participation in this
special
memorial to Michael. If you have
portable
shade / rain tents that you would be willing to loan to
the Andersons,
please contact Ralph or Joy.
PLEASE
REMEMBER that
after worship ends,
we want to provide time and room for those people
with canes, walkers,
and wheelchairs to exit the sanctuary first. Feel
free to offer your
help to them. If you must leave in a hurry, please
use the side aisles
as you exit.
PASTOR JOEL'S
ADULT SUNDAY CLASS: We continue
our ongoing
topic, "Practicing Our Faith", with a discussion of
'Healing'. Please join us in the Commons Room for
this guided discussion
class based on powerful Christian ways of
living out our faith in the
world. We meet from 8:50 - 9:45am.
Coffee and refreshments are
available.
WEEKLY
WOMEN'S BIBLE STUDY:
All women are welcome to
participate. The group meets each Tuesday
from 12:45 - 1:45pm in the
Library here at church. Come for good
study, discussion, prayer, and
fellowship. Questions: contact Elva Binder.
ALL OFFICER POSITIONS WILL BE VACANT
at the time of our Budget and
Election
Congregational Meeting on June 26. A nominating committee
has begun
work on finding candidates for these positions: President,
Vice
President (currently vacant), Treasurer, and recording
Secretary
(currently vacant). After many terms of
service, both our Treasurer (Etta Mae Hitchcock) and
President (Paul
Schutz) are moving on to other areas of service. So please
begin to
think and pray for candidates to fill all these offices.
VOLUNTEER
LABOR
NEEDED UPSTAIRS: Our permits
expire
in early May, and there is still much work to be done
upstairs before
that deadline. If you can help, please talk with Al Binder,
Randy
Giesbers, Eric Westerfield, or others on our Properties
Board. You
don't have to be skilled--much of the work can be learned
and mastered
quickly. Our thanks to all who have put in many hours of
work helping
to complete these projects!!
REDEEMER PIE SOCIAL
will be
held on Saturday, March 19, at 6pm. Join the fun,
entertainment, and
fellowship as lots of tasty pies are auctioned off to the
highest
bidder. If you are willing to provide a pie (or several)
for auction,
please contact Pat Haneberg. Donated pies may be either
home-made or
purchased.
SUNDAY WORSHIP, MARCH 13,
will include an opportunity for individual
prayers
of healing. Whatever you choose to share
with
Pastor Joel will be held in strictest confidentiality.
Pastor Joel
will station himself next to the baptismal font during
Communion for
those who wish to come forward and receive a private prayer
of healing
and blessing. (Don't forget the time change Saturday
evening: set your
clocks ahead one hour.)
DATES
AND
EVENTS TO NOTE ~
Wednesday,
March 9......Ash Wednesday:
Lent begins ~ Worship
opportunities at 12
noon and 7pm with Imposition of Ashes and Holy
Communion
Sunday,
March
13..........Daylight
Savings Time begins
Sunday, March
13..........2pm, Memorial Tree
Planting at Andersons (see above)
+++ Midweek Lenten Vespers on Wednesdays of
Lent, 7pm +++
Saturday, March
19........6pm, Redeemer
Pie Social
Sunday, April
17............Palm Sunday
Sunday,
April
24............Easter
**Please see the weekly
bulletin and master
calendar for a complete listing of dates and
events.
~ In 2011,
Redeemer
celebrates our 50th
anniversary as a congregation. A special Anniversary
planning
committee is being
formed. If you are interested in participating, or have
some ideas
about how we can celebrate this special year, please
talk with Fred
Gargiulo or Paul Schutz.
